Epidemiological Profile of the Cataract in Senegal

Abstract

The crystalline, natural lens of the eye, is normally transparent. But, most often with age, it opacifies involving a decrease of visual acuteness. It's the cataract. It is the first cause of blindness in developing countries; about 40% of the 37 million blind people in the world are affected by. It is therefore a major problem of public health in these countries, particularly since the treatment is known and its application is only limited by the cost. The favorisant factors are undernutrition, dehydration, exhibition to the sun. Then it occurs to relatively young subject. In Senegal The cataract epidemiology revealed a sex ratio of 1.23; men are more affected. Some ethnic groups are more affected than others, as well as certain age, locality and occupation.Copy Right, IJAR, 2017,. All rights reserved. …………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-Two hundred and eighty five (285) millions of people with visual deficiency are registered in the world: 39 million of them are blind and 246 million have a visual acuteness drop. It is noted that about 40% of the 39 million blind people in the world are due to cataract and about 33% of visual deficiencies are caused by a non-operated cataracts (WHO, 2015). Like many countries in Africa, Senegal has established a politicies of preventive information which is not enough sufficient compared to the expansion of cataract. This explains the high rate of cases in the country. This work of thesis intends to establish the epidemiological profile of the cataract in Senegal. Cataract is found in all social fringes and at all ages, its ubiquity justifies the importance who is carried to him in this study. We propose to establish a concise notebook of its expansion in its diversity and form. Indeed, we will focus the study on age; Gender, ethnicity parameters, and associations between these variables. Methodology:-Patients:-Patients are of any sexes, any ages and from different localities of Senegal. They are also of different socio professional category without any possible exclusion related to the kind of activity or ethnic group. Survey and questionnaire form:-The studied parameters were the subject of a questionnaire within a context of surgical intervention operation at the Ouakam Military Hospital (HMO) in 2015. All patient data were collected in a database prepared for this purpose. These data allowed us to make an epidemiological study in the strict sense of cataract in Senegal. Statistical studies:-The realization of this study required the use of statistical tools such as Access 2003, Excel 2003 and Epi info 7 with a confidence interval of 95%. These three softwares allowed the processing and analysis of the collected data.